Why Is Rest So Important After a Brain Injury?

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[Dr. Heechin Chae] There's ample literature showing that neuroplasticity, neurogenesis—which is basically the healing process of an organ like the brain—needs to happen in a relaxed state.If the brain is not relaxed, that process is not going to happen or slow down at most.This is why in the acute concussion or the acute TBI management, we focus on resting.We pull people out of the game or battlefield, and then we tell them to go sleep. We tell them to rest. Why?Because we're trying to promote that relaxed environment so the brain doesn't have to process a lot of useless, unimportant informationas the most important information and promote that neuroplasticity, neurogenesis,that, fortunately, does happen to most people that have this injury.

Heechin Chae, MD was appointed site director of DVBIC at Fort Belvoir and chief of the Traumatic Brain Injury Department at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in 2011. He will become the director of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence satellite at Fort Belvoir in 2013.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which is dedicated to ensuring that impacted post-9/11 veterans, service members, and their families are thriving long after they return home.

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